From the makers of Blue Planet, comes the epic story of life on Earth. Five years in production, over 2,000 days in the field, using 40 cameramen filming across 200 locations, shot entirely in high definition, this is the ultimate portrait of our planet. A stunning television experience that captures rare action, impossible locations and intimate moments with our planet's best-loved, wildest and most elusive creatures. from the highest mountains to the deepest rivers, this blockbuster series takes you on an unforgettable journey through the daily struggle for survival in Earth's most extreme habitats. Planet Earth takes you to places you have never seen before, to experience sights and sounds you may never experience anywhere else.

I thought the original box-set was hi-def, seeing as that's what the series was shot in.
I presume it was just a watered down version to squeeze as much money out of people as possible then...

Hmmm, but then again I know nothing about HD... can you not play HD discs on normal players - I assumed the picture would just scale down to normal quality? If they can't be played at all then I suppose it makes sense.

Hmmm, but then again I know nothing about HD... can you not play HD discs on normal players - I assumed the picture would just scale down to normal quality? If they can't be played at all then I suppose it makes sense.

An HD DVD disc such as this cannot be played on a normal DVD drive, the disc simply won't be recognised. There are some HD DVD 'Combo' discs which contain the video in both HD DVD and DVD by using both sides of the disc such as 300. To play in HD you use one side and to watch it in SD you flip the disc over, the Matrix trilogy has the HD films on one side and the extra in SD on the other.

I really wish Inverness would get a Virgin store here again, they seem to have a reasonable amount of deals these days and I've missed having them since moving back up from Edinburgh, been keeping an eye out on a good price for the UK for a while now.

An HD DVD disc such as this cannot be played on a normal DVD drive, the disc simply won't be recognised. There are some HD DVD 'Combo' discs which contain the video in both HD DVD and DVD by using both sides of the disc such as 300. To play in HD you use one side and to watch it in SD you flip the disc over, the Matrix trilogy has the HD films on one side and the extra in SD on the other.

The Ultimate version contains more extras as well as the Animatrix, the standard HD trilogy set still contains a large amount of extras - exactly the same as the second disc paired with each film in the SD-DVD Ultimate set.

Thats only if you have a credit card with virgin and its not worth the risk tbh

I'm a Virgin Credit Card holder with entitlement to the discount and I've purchased items using non-Virgin Credit Cards and still had the discount applied and paid the discount price without any issues? Whilst I appreciate the t&c's, from my experience it's worth trying!! :-D

So which is better HD-DVD or BluRay? Received a mailer from Richer Sounds the other day with a sub £300 HD player so might be in the market for one soon. Would be tempted by an X-Box ubt have heard they are noisey and I don't have time to play games that much these days.
Watched Die Hard 4.0 last night am getting itchy fingers for HD now.

So which is better HD-DVD or BluRay? Received a mailer from Richer Sounds the other day with a sub £300 HD player so might be in the market for one soon. Would be tempted by an X-Box ubt have heard they are noisey and I don't have time to play games that much these days.
Watched Die Hard 4.0 last night am getting itchy fingers for HD now.

You could also wait a few weeks to get a Toshiba HD-EP30 which is newer (1080p output blah, blah, blah) which comes with The Bourne Supremacy and 300 in the box, plus you also get to send away for the 5 free HD DVDs as well but it does cost a bit more at around £199 (dabs/bt shop) to £209 (play).

So which is better HD-DVD or BluRay? Received a mailer from Richer Sounds the other day with a sub £300 HD player so might be in the market for one soon. Would be tempted by an X-Box ubt have heard they are noisey and I don't have time to play games that much these days.
Watched Die Hard 4.0 last night am getting itchy fingers for HD now.

Both are so similar it mainly comes down to which studios support which format. For example, if you want Die Hard 4.0 you will only get that on Bluray. If you want Transformers then you can only get that on HD-DVD.

Both now have near identical video quality, identical sound (although i think bluray has the lead in number of titles with lossless audio) and the prices are pretty much the same now.

So look into what films you want and which format they're on. The only true way to win in the HD-DVD/BluRay "war" is to have both formats (like me).

I'd agree with Windle, check which DVDs you want first before choosing a format - regardless of any other aspects there's not much use in going for one format if it doesn't have the films you want.

One aspect of HD DVD I do like from a bargain point of view is that it's entirely region free (although SD DVD side of a combo disc isn't) which means you can get films cheaper and quicker from the US. Blu-ray does have a reasonable amount of region free titles but it's not a standard feature, you can see a list here:

You could also wait a few weeks to get a Toshiba HD-EP30 which is newer (1080p output blah, blah, blah) which comes with The Bourne Supremacy and 300 in the box, plus you also get to send away for the 5 free HD DVDs as well but it does cost a bit more at around £199 (dabs/bt shop) to £209 (play).

Thanks for the info Tweety. The E1 looks a bit dodgy with long start up times and jagged edges being mentioned but the EP30 looks a goer especially with 7 HD DVDs (although I'd struggle to find 5 I want from the selection). I just got 300 the other day for my birthday and was blown away with the picture and that was on SD. Rep. added.

Only area of concern at the moment is Blockbuster only stock Bluray. May have to join an online rental service.

The only true way to win in the HD-DVD/BluRay "war" is to have both formats (like me).

I'd say the only true way to win in the HD-DVD/BluRay war is to wait until one format begins to truly dominate. As soon as people start retiring their DVD players it'll happen. Buying both seems like a bit of a waste of money in the long run to me, but each to their own and all that.

I thought the original box-set was hi-def, seeing as that's what the series was shot in.
I presume it was just a watered down version to squeeze as much money out of people as possible then...

Hmmm, but then again I know nothing about HD... can you not play HD discs on normal players - I assumed the picture would just scale down to normal quality? If they can't be played at all then I suppose it makes sense.

No it was shot with HD cameras but scaled down on the DVDs as no DVD player can handle HD footage. It was shot for BBC HD and for HD-DVD and Blu-ray. They're not squeezing any money out of anyone, there's four discs in this set and you're not obliged to buy this.

I'd say the only true way to win in the HD-DVD/BluRay war is to wait until one format begins to truly dominate. As soon as people start retiring their DVD players it'll happen. Buying both seems like a bit of a waste of money in the long run to me, but each to their own and all that.

Well in reality i only bought 1 HD player. I bought a PS3 originally, as a console and not for it's bluray capabilities. After buying into Bluray i wanted some of the other films available in HD which are only on HD-DVD so i bought the HD-DVD addon for my 360, although the 5 free HD-DVDs was a factor in the decision!

DVD made an impact pretty quickly though. HD-DVD has been around for a decent while now, and using transformers as an example.

8.5million DVD sales in Week 1
190,000 HD-DVD sales in Week 1

Putting HD-DVD with a market share of 2.2%...

Blu-Ray figures are around the same, showing that at the moment Joe Public couldn't give 2 hoots about HD.

DVD has been around in some form or another since 1995 with players arriving in 1996. DVD uptake for movie viewing was not fast at all, it took DVD around 3 or 4 years (1998/1999) until it really took off and even then rental sales of DVD did not overtake VHS rental until 2003. HD DVD has not even been around for 2 years yet (first player was early 2006) so it is doing pretty good at the moment. These things take time to seed but for every person that buys one they will tell their friends and so on and so on. As adoption numbers increase so does the rate of adoption, it just how things work, you can't expect a new format to suddenly overtake sales of a format that has been selling for 11 years.

You didn’t need to buy a new TV when upgrading from VCR to DVD which many people will need to do with HD video formats. That will hold back the sales later on maybe once the early adopters have upgraded and Joe Public are left wondering whether it’s worth it.

I’d rather see SD digital TV broadcast at decent bit rates than upgrade to either HD disc format. I’m not holding my breath that HD Freeview (if it arrives) will be of decent visually quality accept for the BBC I suppose.

You didn’t need to buy a new TV when upgrading from VCR to DVD which many people will need to do with HD video formats. That will hold back the sales later on maybe once the early adopters have upgraded and Joe Public are left wondering whether it’s worth it.

I’d rather see SD digital TV broadcast at decent bit rates than upgrade to either HD disc format. I’m not holding my breath that HD Freeview (if it arrives) will be of decent visually quality accept for the BBC I suppose.

Well you did -- i didnt have a scart attachment for my tv meaning i had to buy a whole new tele and same with my sisters as you HAD to have a scart attachment for dvd players well unless you ran the rf lead from the ps2

HD freeview is definately on it's way. I was talking to a Pioneer engineer about a problem with my DVRT when he was beta testing boxes in Q1 this year.
Have to agree the comments about transmitting SD in decent quaity. Have noticed lines on my TV in the past 6 month on certain "lesser" channels in the past 6 months.
Have been around long enough to remember the big fights (Beta v. VHS, VHS v. DVD). HD will make an impact IMO but not in the way that earlier fights did but will get there eventually ie. when the BR/HD fight is over and prices comes down to sub £100 for a player.

HD freeview is definately on it's way. I was talking to a Pioneer engineer about a problem with my DVRT when he was beta testing boxes in Q1 this year.
Have to agree the comments about transmitting SD in decent quaity. Have noticed lines on my TV in the past 6 month on certain "lesser" channels in the past 6 months.
Have been around long enough to remember the big fights (Beta v. VHS, VHS v. DVD). HD will make an impact IMO but not in the way that earlier fights did but will get there eventually ie. when the BR/HD fight is over and prices comes down to sub £100 for a player.

Hd tv sales only really get boosted by sports events so hd will be well placed in the market by the next world cup but not yet